Signaling is the process of sending information between two parts of a network to control, route, and maintain a telephone call. For example, lifting the handset of a telephone from the receiver sends a signal to the central office: “I want to make a telephone call”. The central office sends a signal back to the user in the form of a dial tone, indicating that the network is ready to carry the call.
The three types of signals are as follows:

* Supervisory signals. Supervisory signals monitor the busy or idle condition of a telephone. They also are used to request service. They tell the central office when the telephone handset is lifted (off-hook requesting service) or hung up (on hook in the idle condition).

* Alerting signals. These are bell signals, tones, or strobe lights that alert end users that a call has arrived.

* Addressing signals. These are touch tones or data pulses that tell the network where to send the call. A compuer or person dialing a call sends addressing signals over the network.

Signals can be sent over the same channel as voice or data conversation or over a separate channel. Prior to 1976, all signals were sent over the same path as voice and data traffic. This is called in-band signaling. In-band signalling resulted in inefficient use of telephone lines. When a call was dialed, the network checked for an available path and tied up an entire path through the network before it sent the call through to the distant end. For example, a call from Miami to Los Angeles tied up a path throughout the network after the digits were dialed but before the call was started.

Prior to the proliferation of voice mail, between 20% and 35% of calls were incomplete due to busy signals, network congestion, and ring-no-answers. Therefore, channels that could be used for telephone calls were used to carry in-band signals such as those for incomplete calls, dial tone, and ringing. Multiplying this scenario by the millions of calls placed resulted in wasted telephone network facilities.

In addition to tying up telephone facilities, in-band signaling sets up calls more slowly than out-of-band signaling. To illustrate, the time between dialing an 800 call and hearing ring-back tones from the distant end is the call setup part of the call. Call setup includes dialing and waiting until the call is actually established.

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There isn’t a worldwide standard telephone number that people dial regardless of the country they live in to reach emergency providers. Also, many countries have a set of different emergency numbers for mobile phones, fire, police, and ambulance services. As a for instance, Hong Kong uses 999 for emergencies for landline phones and then 112 for cellular emergency calls. The very first emergency number was 999, originally used in London in 1937.
The following is a partial list of emergency numbers around the world:

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The expression, “To get someone’s goat”, meaning to anger or irritate, originated in 19th century racing stables in England. High-strung race horses were kept calm by having them share the stables with a goat. Evidently, the company calmed them and allowed them to rest and relax. Unprincipled hooligans would sometimes sneak into the stable at night and remove the goat. The horse got upset, would not have a good rest, and lose the race the next morning.

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In 1872, Elijah McCoy (1844-1929), an African-American (Canadian by birth), invented something that no one who ran a railroad could do without – an automatic lubricator for trains. With his device, trains could run faster and did not need to stop so often for maintenance. His invention spawned a bunch of inferior copies. When railroad engineers inspected their locomotives, they made sure it was equipped with “The real McCoy”.

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The Strowger Switch has a rather amusing history. Once upon a time in the Wild West, there was a young man named Alman B. Strowger who wasn’t a telecommunications engineer by trade. He was a mortician. As life would have it, he had a competitor in town. During this period, there were no dial pads to use when making a telephone call. Instead, you had to talk with the town telephone operator, who would extend the connection on your behalf. Mr. Strowger’s competitor’s wife was the town telephone operator. So, needless to say, anytime there was gossip about a gun battle about to brew on Main Street, she let her husband know, and he was there to collect the bodies before Mr. Stowger got a chance. Mr. Stowger decided to use technology to get a competitive advantage, and he invented the Stowger Switch. Th new switch meant that you could dial a number directly from your phone, bypassing the town telephone operator.

Two types of optical switches are currently being produced: switches with electrical cores (i.e., first-generation optical switches) and switches with optical cores (i.e., next-generation optical switches). The elctronics in first-generation switches slow their capability to work with the very high rates that the fiber itself can support. The future lies in the pure optical switches, but we still have to fully develop the microphotonics industry; Thus, integrated photonic circuits are really the next key technology required to drive the optical networking industry forward.

The telecommunications act of 1996 requires that the ILECs unbundle their NEs (Network Elements) and make them available to the CLECs on the basis of incremental cost. UNEs are defined as physical and functional elements of the network, e.g., NIDs (Network Interface Devices), local loops and subloops (portions of local loops), circuit-switching and switch ports, interoffice transmission facilities, signaling and call-related databases, OSSs (Operational Support Systems), operator services and directory assistance, and packet or data switching. When combined into a complete set in order to provide an end-to-end circuit, the UNEs constitute a UNE-P (UNE-Platform). Unbundled Network Elements is a term used in negociations between a CLEC and the ILEC to describe the various network components that will be used or leased by the CLEC from the ILEC. These components include such things as the actual copper wire to the customers, fiber strands, and local switching. The CLEC will lease these UNEs with pricing based on the previously-signed Interconnection Agreement between the CLEC and the ILEC. Typically, a CLEC will colocate a switch at the ILEC’s wire center, then pay for the “unbundled” local loop to make a connection to the customer. Alternatively, a CLEC might lease both an unbundled local loop and an unbundled switch, and make a connection to their network at the LEC’s switch.

Health information technology (HIT) is now widely seen as an essential element of a nationwide effort to improve quality and efficiency, and mitigate the rate of increase in healthcare delivery costs. The real value of this investment lies in the ability to effectively share this information across the continuum of care to provide more timely and efficient clinical decision making and avoid duplication of services.

The approximately $20 billion in ARRA funding allocated to healthcare IT investment will hopefully have a positive impact and begin the transformational process the U.S. healthcare industry so desperately needs to remain viable and competitive.

Join Intel and IDC for this unique roundtable to learn what opportunities lie ahead for your organization, and how to take advantage of them to better your business. You will leave this discussion with actionable advice on making the most out of the stimulus funding opportunities including:

*Funding rules and guidelines
*Electronic medical record options
*Health information technology security and integrity
*Mobile technologies to improve quality and compliance
*Remote patient monitoring technologies
*BI and Analytics — how to analyze effectively, what happens to the results once data is analyzed, and who gets the data
*Data Integration with RHIOs and HIEs

*Registration is complimentary to qualified executives.

This executive roundtable is being offered by Intel in association with IDC.

Uniform Service Order Code (pronounced “U-Sock”) is a structured language that allows for the development of software to support service order systems in the telephone industry. The service order process utilizes the USOC, along with Field Identifiers (FIDs), to provision, bill and maintain services and equipment. USOCs can be either three or five alpha/numeric characters. A plus (+) sign indicates a variable suffix position. Suffixes define options of the USOC i.e. color, jurisdiction, speed. To prevent confusion the letter “o” is used and zero is not; the number “1” is used and the letter “I” is not. USOCs are designed for tariffed services, official company services, coin services, equipment, detariffed services, etc. The Bell operating companies in the United States and many independent telephone companies use USOCs to communicate both within their company and between companies. Many new companies in the industry are using the USOC information to interpret incumbent telephone company records when they are supplying new service to a customer. The different companies may have different names for the same services, but the USOC name is generic and therefore becomes a common naming device between companies.

People use several IP-realted terms interchangeably. However, according to the International Telecommunications Union (ITU; http://www.itu.int), there are distinctions between the following terms:

* IPT – The transmission of voice, fax, and related services over a packet-switched IP-based network. Internet telephony and VoIP are specific subsets of IPT.

* Internet Telephony – Telephony in which the principal transmission network is the public internet. Internet telephony is commonly referred to as Voice over the Net, Internet phone, and net telephony, with appropriate modifications to refer to fax as well, such as Internet Fax.

The morning will also feature a panel discussion including:
Gideon Gradman, Vice President of Corporate Development with Ze-Gen Inc.
Jeff Andrews, Partner at Atlas Venture
John P. DeVillars, Partner Bluewave Strategies

and keynote by Ian Bowles, Secretary of Energy and Environmental Affairs.

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Aeronautica Windpower LLC, a Plymouth company that refurbishes wind turbines, is expected to say today that it has reached a deal with a Danish company to open a factory to manufacture commercial-size turbines.

Aeronautica said it is already scouting New England for sites for the facility, which initially will employ up to 100 people to make turbines under an exclusive licensing agreement with Norwin A/S, a turbine technology company in Denmark.

The plant will produce 225-kilowatt and 750-kilowatt machines, suitable for wind projects at schools, municipal facilities, and shopping centers. Company officials said they hope to power the facility with its own turbine.

The company plans to continue to operate its Plymouth refurbishing business.

“There is a large market for wind power in the region because of our high power costs,” Aeronautica spokesman Brian Kuhn said in a statement.

Ian Bowles, secretary of the state’s Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs, said demand for turbines is growing following the passage of legislation to support renewable energy. He added that the state is working with Aeronautica to have the turbine plant located in Massachusetts.

Aeronautica’s move into manufacturing could help the state reach Governor Deval Patrick’s goal of having 2,000 megawatts of wind power generating capacity in Massachusetts by 2020. Currently, the state has under seven megawatts of capacity, and hundreds more on tap from proposed projects.

Smaller wind projects may be taking longer to complete because of a lengthy permitting process, according to a study on renewable energy that was prepared for Energy and Environmental Affairs and delivered to a state siting commission yesterday.

The study recommends that state officials consider making changes so that renewable energy projects are easier to develop and can take advantage of a streamlined “one-stop” permitting process.

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Verenium Corporation (NASDAQ: VRNM) is a biotechnology firm that produces enzymes used in industrial processes and agricultural feedstocks. The company also does U.S. Army funded research on antibodies for potential biological weapons like SARS and anthrax. Verenium has been receiving a lot of attention recently because it has developed enzyme processes that break down biomatter to produce cellulosic ethanol, a developing, expensive source of fuel that gained strong government backing with the passage of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007.
Verenium’s current main product is Phyzyme phytase, which helps livestock to get nutrition from wheat-based diets by improving their absorption of phosphorus, and the market for this enzyme is growing steadily in both domestic and international markets. The market for cellulosic ethanol, however, is much more volatile. Though the U.S. government is supporting cellulosic development through research grants and subsidies to the tune of $1.18 per gallon, the world’s current dependence on oil makes a transition to ethanol very difficult. Competing with Verenium in the cellulosic market are companies like Bluefire Ethanol, VeraSun Energy, and Pacific Ethanol.

Verenium Corporation (Nasdaq: VRNM) was formed in June of 2007 through the merger of Diversa Corporation, a global leader in industrial enzyme discovery and development, and Celunol Corporation, a company on the forefront of developing cellulosic ethanol.

Verenium is using its proprietary technologies and world-class expertise in pre-treatment, novel enzyme development, fermentation, engineering and project development to accelerate the development and commercialization of cellulosic ethanol from a wide array of feedstocks, including sugarcane bagasse, dedicated energy crops, agricultural waste and wood products.

By using theses integrated end-to-end capabilities, Verenium is positioned to be the first to produce cellulosic ethanol on a commercial-scale.

In addition, the Company discovers and optimizes enzymes, proteins that act as the catalysts of biochemical reactions, for the biofuels, specialty industrial processes and health & nutrition markets. Verenium currently has a portfolio of commercialized enzyme products as well as several late-stage product candidates.

The 4:3 aspect ratio was originally developed by W.K.L.Dickson in 1889 while he was working at Thomas Edison’s laboratories. Dickson was experimenting with a motion-picture camera called a Kinescope, and he made his film 1 inch wide with frames 0.75 inches high. This film size, and its aspect ratio, became the standard for the film and motion-picture industry because there was no apparent reason to change it. In 1941, when the NTSC proposed standards for television broadcasting, they adopted the same ratio as the film industry.

In the 1950’s, Hollywood wanted to give the public a reason to buy a ticket to attend the theatre rather than sit at home watching the TV. Because our two eyes give us a wider view, a wider movie makes more sense. Widescreen formats are formatted much closer to the way we see. Our field of vision is more rectangular than square. When we view movies in widescreen format, the image fills more of our field of vision and has a stronger visual impact. Wider screens gave the theatre audience a more visually engulfing experience. The 16:9 aspect ratio allows TV to move closer to the movie experience.

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The basic equation in assessing the development of optics is that every year, the data rate that can be supported on a wavelength doubles and the number of wavelengths that can be supported on a fiber doubles as well.

Developments in optical networking have caused the cost of transport to drop dramatically in recent years. Over the past decade, the cost of moving bits has dropped so dramatically that if the automobile industry could match it, you could buy a BMW for just a dollar or two.

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Tired of typing slowly, hitting wrong keys, and searching for oddly placed keys on your laptop keyboard? Atek’s OnBoard Travel Keyboard is for you! It’s built like a desktop keyboard with standard size keys, so it provides the feel and comfort you need to type fast, maintain accuracy, and work productively! Unlike wobbly fold-up travel keyboards, the OnBoard Travel Keyboard is solid and stable, yet small enough to fit inside most laptop cases and shoulder bags. And the hard protective cover and cord management system provide safe and simple storage. For extra comfort, you can use the included inflatable palm rest and the cover as a cradle to tilt the keyboard.

You will be able to pick up the Atek OnBoard Travel Keyboard for around $25.95. Bear in mind it will lose out on the following keys – Print Screen, Scroll Lock, Pause Break, and right side Ctrl and Windows.

A CLLI, (pronounced “Silly”) code is a telecommunications industry-standard and is an alphanumeric code of 11 characters, CLLI was developed by Bellcore (now telecordia Technologies) as a method of identifying physical locations and equipment such as buildings, central offices, poles, and antennas. Each CLLI code conforms to one of three basic formats (Network Entity, Network Support Site and Customer Site). Each format, in turn, determines how these six coding elements are used:

– Geographical Codes (Example: DNVR = Denver) Typically assigned to cities, towns, suburbs, villages, hamlets, military installations and international airports, geographical codes can also be mapped to mountains, bodies of water and satellities in fixed-earth orbit.

– Geopolitical Codes (Example: CO = Colorado) Typically assigned to countries, states and provinces, geopolitical and geographical codes can be combined to form a location identifyer that is unique worldwide.

– Network Site Codes (Example: 56 = A Central Office on Main Street) This element is used with geographical and geopolitcal codes to represent buildings, structures, enclosures or other locations at which there is a need to identify and describe one or more functional entities. This category includes central office buildings, business and commercial offices, certain microwave-radio relay buildings and earth stations, universities, hospitals, military bases and other government complexes, garages, sheds and small buildings, phone centers and controlled environmental vaults.

– Network Entity Codes (Example: DS0 = A digital switch) This element can be used with geographical, geopolitical and network-site codes to identify and describe functional categories of equipment, administrative groups or maintenance centers involved in the operations taking place at a given location.

– Network Support Site Codes (Example: P1234 = A telephone pole) This element can be used with geographical and geopolitical codes to identify and describe the location of international boundaries or crossing points, end points, fiber nodes, cable and facility junctions, manholes, poles, radio-equipment sites, repeaters and tall stations.

– Customer Site Codes (Example: 1A101 = A Customer) This element can be used with geographical and geopolitical codes to identify and describe customer locations associated with switched-service networks, centrex installations; Trunk forecasting, cable, carrier or fiber terminations, NCTE, CPE and PBX equipment, military installations, shopping malls, universities and hospitals.

Consider the real-life example of NYCMNY18DS0. The first four characters identify the place name (NYCM is New York City Manhattan). The following two characters identify the state, region, or territory (NY is New York). The remaining five chracters identify the specific item at that place (18DS0 is the AT&T 5E Digital Serving Office on West 18th Street, between Seventh and Eighth Avenues). Phone companies use CLLI Codes for a variety of purposes, including identifying and ordering private lines and trapping and tracing of annoying or threatening calls.

CLLI Code – Facility Identification codes provide unique identification of facilities (cable and carrier systems) between any two interconnected CLLI coded locations. The CLFI code is a variable length, mnemonic code with a maximum of 38 characters. Example: 101T1LSANCA03NWRKNJAA. This example says that there is a T-1 carrier connected between the Los Angeles, California Central Office to the Newark, New Jersey Central Office.

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About...

PMO Director. These are my personal thoughts about software development, technology and related topics that interest me. In general, you will find a bias towards project management related issues and lots of talk about interacting with stakeholders or programmers. I try to present a technical view from a user's perspective. The views presented here on my professional and personal blog represent my own views and experiences and not those of my employer.